07 May 12
Originally posted by sonhouseThis is going to be interesting. When Merkel tells Hollande to talk to the hand and taxing the rich won't make the math work, that's still going to leave a lot of austerity for the French to absorb. I predict burning cars.
This has got to have some effect on the Euro I would think, and the bailout packages set for Greece, Spain and so forth. What do you think? The elections in Greece may derail the whole bailout idea.
07 May 12
Originally posted by normbenignThe general trend is that the high-tax Northern European governments have sounder finances than the lower-tax southern societies.
Is that the general trend? Or are these aberrations. If government will give me everything I need to live, free, why would I work?
If government will give me everything I need to live, free, why would I work?
Because you're no freeloader and you would rather earn your own living than intentionally (without seeking a job) live off the work of others? I don't need to work and I can get indefinite unemployment benefits until I die, but why would I want to live like that?
Originally posted by SleepyguyKnowing the French, you might as well predict croissants and red wine.
This is going to be interesting. When Merkel tells Hollande to talk to the hand and taxing the rich won't make the math work, that's still going to leave a lot of austerity for the French to absorb. I predict burning cars.
Originally posted by normbenignNorway is a good start.
"Hollande has said that he will raise taxes for people who make over €1 mil, but shouldn't that be more like €70k to be more than just a symbolic drop in the ocean?"
The premise for this has to be that a socialist government is better able to manage money than people who earned it. As that threshold gets lower and lower, and taxes higher, there is lit ...[text shortened]... r half of the 19th century, that government expertise is any better than market distribution?
Originally posted by sonhouseIf Alexis Tsipras and SYRIZA can form a coalition then there may be a small sliver of hope that the neo-liberal new world order will be defeated after all. But it's a small sliver. If the elite agenda is seriously threatened in any way, they'll probably just stage a coup and carry on with business as usual.
This has got to have some effect on the Euro I would think, and the bailout packages set for Greece, Spain and so forth. What do you think? The elections in Greece may derail the whole bailout idea.
Originally posted by rwingettApparently no one has been able to form a coalition. The sides seem to be drawn pretty tightly between those who reject the austerity package and those Quislings who feel they are bound to honor it. More elections may be forthcoming.
If Alexis Tsipras and SYRIZA can form a coalition then there may be a small sliver of hope that the neo-liberal new world order will be defeated after all. But it's a small sliver. If the elite agenda is seriously threatened in any way, they'll probably just stage a coup and carry on with business as usual.
Originally posted by sonhouseIt will be good for the Euro in the long run, because now the policies will be focused on economic development rather than obsession with debt. The voters pretty much tossed out austerity.
This has got to have some effect on the Euro I would think, and the bailout packages set for Greece, Spain and so forth. What do you think? The elections in Greece may derail the whole bailout idea.
Hollande is a pragmatist however, as is Merkel. They'll work out a more gradual spending cut scenario while working on stimulus in the short term - as it should have been done to begin with.
What conservatives often fail to understand about macroeconomics is that if sudden and large spending cuts recess the economy, the debt problem is actually exacerbated.